Ocean's Eleven (1960)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

George Clayton Johnson (story) &
Jack Golden Russell (story) ...

Release Date:

10 August 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

You wouldn't call it a gang. Just Danny Ocean and his 11 pals - the night they blew all the lights in Las Vegas!...

Plot:

Eleven friends who know each other from World War II service plan to rob five of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night...

Plot Keywords:

Casino | New Year's Eve | Heart Attack | Robbery | Ostracism

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Frank Sinatra	...	Danny Ocean
Dean Martin	...	Sam Harmon
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Josh Howard
Peter Lawford	...	Jimmy Foster
Angie Dickinson	...	Beatrice Ocean
Richard Conte	...	Anthony Raymond 'Tony' Bergdorf
Cesar Romero	...	Duke Santos
Patrice Wymore	...	Adele Ekstrom
Joey Bishop	...	'Mushy' O'Connors
Akim Tamiroff	...	Spyros Acebos
Henry Silva	...	Roger Corneal
Ilka Chase	...	Mrs. Restes
Buddy Lester	...	Vince Massler
Richard Benedict	...	'Curly' Steffens
Jean Willes	...	Mrs. Gracie Bergdorf

Also Known As:

Ocean's 11 (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #19613) | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Bob Hope Airport - 2627 Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Dorchester

Trivia:

Dave White, Frank Sinatra's stand-in for over 30 years, can be glimpsed in an uncredited cameo as the stagehand who gives Sinatra, Peter Lawford and Buddy Lester temporary refuge from their pursuers right after the burlesque club brawl.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Sam first greets Bea, he calls her "Mrs. Oceans". Her last name (and her husband's) is "Ocean" -- singular, not plural.

Quotes:

Josh Howard: Look Vince - the brave ones don't come home. You stay scared.
Vince Massler: Yeah. You were always one of those guys who didn't want any brave ones on patrol with you, weren't you?
Josh Howard: It's simple enough - in my book "brave" rhymes with "stupid", and it still does.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool (2001)

Soundtrack:

Learnin' the Blues

The Heist of All Time

I remember back in the day when the commercials were out for Ocean's Eleven it was described as the heist of all time. It wasn't exactly that, but there is a spirit of camaraderie that is present through out the film.

Frank Sinatra had signed a picture deal with Warner Brothers and was beginning a long term commitment to the Sands in Las Vegas. What better way than to combine everything at once. A film on location in Las Vegas.

So Frank got his pallies together and they filmed Ocean's Eleven in between shows at the Sands. They also managed to get into another film, several of the principal players in Ocean's Eleven did guest shots in Pepe while at the Sands.

Ocean's Eleven has a lighthearted insouciance about it, a group of former Airborne Rangers get together in Las Vegas for a heist of the big casinos carried on with military precision. Why waste all that good airborne training now that they're civilians.

Sinatra doesn't sing in this, I can't imagine why he didn't give himself a song here, but Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. did sing two numbers suited to their talents.

Ocean's Eleven marked the first time that Richard Conte worked in a Sinatra film. He became a Sinatra retainer in his later years, appearing in several Sinatra films. They parted when Conte appeared in The Godfather against Frank's wishes.

After Ocean's Eleven came Sergeants Three with the main cast members appearing again. After that the Rat Pack broke up with these guys going their own way, though many of them did have joint projects together over the years. The quality of the films went down hill, except for Robin and the Seven Hoods. That was a musical and not something to be done in your spare time.

The remake of Ocean's Eleven that George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and several other name players of today did was a far more serious film. Good in its own way, but just not the same.